First set you teach

[Yogicmotion]

[PM]

gjffk, after couple of months of intensive gei bun gung, ie. fundamental training (warm up, stances, breakfalls, basic techniques, strengthening and conditioning, stretching)

[Frank Bolte]

mui fah kuen, the reason is simple.. to teach GGFFK takes energy ,time you spend on a student and I dont wanna teach gung gee to someone who is not sure if he stays..mui fah is a short set with some nice techniques it gives the student an idea about hung gar ,if a student is good and he puts in work he can learn it fast I dont have time limits...so far i have one student who learned gung gee kuen and he started in september 2009....others still chew on mui fah..oh and between mui fah and gung gee i teach a short longpole set..this is too build up strength and ging..anyway forms is a thing i spend the least time on thats why the progress on that is rather slow...we do a lot of lin gung and partnerwork.

[Chunyat]

Lau Ga Kuen.

I use this one as the 'bringer' of basics, to learn some stances (next to separate basics, applications and so on.).
It takes a student ca. 3 - 6 months, depending on the interest and intensity they practise.
It doesn't mean they have to perform the set perfect, it's just a start.

Similar as Franky, Gung Ji is too long to teach total beginners of which you're not sure they will stay.
I've also noticed that Gung Ji sometimes scares students of, because of the length, even if they have learned Lau Ga already.

Just on a side note. If one would break up Gung Ji, I think best would be to teach the first stance part (up to, but not including cat washes its face three times) as the first set. Then as 2nd Lau Ga, then as 3rd more of Gung Ji.

[ginosifu]

Wing Lams version of Arrow Hand / Jin Sao. Most of the form is static and gives the beginner more time on hand postures / techniques. It is also a shorter form which seems a bit easier to swallow for a newbie in Hung gar. You can see it here:
http://www.wle.com/products/VHG01D.html

However, in one my most recent threads I talked about maybe having KGFF but just breaking it down into sections and only having 1 form to teach.
ginosifu

[ironpalm]

Anyone teach Sil Lum Kuen (sp?) ? That was my first form and a good one for beginning Hung Gar.

[ginosifu]

IronPalm
Although I do not know the form by this name (sli Lum kuen). Maybe If i saw a clip of it? Is there any vids out there of this form?

ginosifu

[Yogicmotion]

Thanks for the feed back gang!

I am working on an extended curriculum for beyond my basics class later this year. I am inclined to start them with Lau Ga or maybe Mui fa kuen.

I learned a the very first set my sifu teaches is one called Gung lek kuen. I personally hate the set. I do not intend to teach it (unless at my sifu's studio )

PM, when do you introduce Lau/Arrowhand,etc...

[PM]

Brian:

i have stopped teaching Lau ga kyun as the first set long time ago - i personally do not like it. as one of my daai sihings says: with a gjffk, you can leanr Lgk in a 30 minutes; with Lgk, it will still taky you couple of months to learn Lgk.

jin jeung: i really like the set, a special Lam family material. some years ago i have taught it to couple of students as the first set. also, i teach it as a part of Lam family Siulam kyun sub-curriculum (one bare handed set, double knives, long pole).

mui fa kyun is imho better option, i really like the set - fighting oriented, you use it as you practice, you can practice it on a really small space etc. i just do not feel very comfortable with the right hand/right leg forward.

i have been teaching gungfu att he university for a second year. i have 2 groups, each 1,5 hour once a week, cca. 14 lessons. i have choosen t teach them mui fa kyun, and i think it was a very good idea. btw. where did you pick up this set?

gung lik kyun - Ching Woo set, a great warm up imho, excellent mobility exercise, especially for the stiff shoulders, but well, it is not Hung Kyun.

anyway, check this, this a standart curriculum of my school, students usually learn (or are supposed to learn) in this order:

http://www.lghk.org/en/curriculum/index.htm

i like to do it the hard way right from the beginning. gjjfk, not easy, demanding, very long. lazy? afraid? well, a dozen of other schools just around the corner. in my school, i am mainly interested in serious students. the university lectures, well, that is a different story, students come to learn for one semster and go.

[Yogicmotion]

I picked up Mui fa from my first hung gar teacher in my home town. He was a student of John Leong. I always really liked the set, but my current Sifu (Yc Wong sifu) doesn't teach it. Funny though the first set he taught was also a northern set called Lin Wan. I think it comes from the Northern white crane system. But not sure.

I see your logic in teach GGFK first. I will definitely weed out the weak. I think I want something a little shorter.

I think I must be the only one who dislikes Gung lek. Do you teach it at all?

[PM]

no, you are nto the only one i do not teach gung lik kyun, but occassionaly practice it. well, i am a pure Southern guy, i do not like much the Northern stuff.

i suggest you to teach mui fa kyun then! good choice imho.

[Frank Bolte]

sometimes you can find a good student if you help him first..by teaching mui fah first I give a student a feeling of success after a short time. This could push his motivation further..maybe if i started with gung gee he would have stopped and left,u might think he is not worth it but maybe he is..some people need that push...and later represent you very well.
For me it works very well so far.....

[ironpalm]

[ginosifu]

Thanks IronPalm.
Yogimotion is this the lian Huan you talking about?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdT1Kx45Ba0[/youtube]
This version of Lian Huan is taught at the temple even today... mostly its a kids form. Gung Lik / Gong li is Jing Wu / Northern form. I do northern and I do not like it either.
PM = question for you... Do you find that other kung fu forms like Bung Bo (Praying Mantis style) and Gung Lik (Jing Wu Northern style), change the flavor of your Hung gar? By flavor I mean how you move. I know for myself I have done Northern Shaolin / Monkey style / Yang Tai Chi style and all of these have influenced how my HK looks. Your thoughts

ginosifu

[Yogicmotion]

No, not the one, but has the same flavor.